We know we can’t expect you to be late for CAT, however, a reminder is still necessary. Prometric and IIMs have come up with a practical guide to CAT. Below, we have presented it in a more lucid format.

Arrival:

You have to arrive at the center 2 hours before the allotted time. Thus

For the morning 10:oo am slot, arrive by 8:00 am and NOT LATER than 8:30 am

Testing timing: 10:00 am to 12:30 pm

For the afternoon 3:30 pm slot, arrive by 1:30 am and NOT LATER than 2:00 pm

Testing timings: 3:30 pm to 6:00 pm

Note that if you fail to arrive by the said timings, you will be barred from testing.

Directions to the testing center will be provided on the website: www.catiim.in few days prior to the testing window. Staff wearing ‘CAT 2009′ jackets will be present to assist the candidates on the testing site.

Things to bring along with you:

CAT 2009 admit card: The one sent to you via email after online registration.

One acceptable form of photo identification, namely:

a) Driver’s license

b) Passport

c) PAN Card

d) Voter ID

e) College ID

f) Employee identification card

g) A notarized Affidavit with Photo, Signature, Date of Birth and Residential Address.

Note that if you fail to bring one of the above identity proofs, you will be barred from testing

In case the name has been changed due to reasons such as marriage, the candidate will have to carry a proof such as marriage certificate, divorce decree or legal name change. Carry a photocopy of one such proof with you. You will have to submit a copy at the time of testing, at the interview and at the time of joining the institutes.

Your pen, wrist watch, calculators, cell phones and other such items will be stored in a plastic bag away from the testing area.

Do not bring:

a) Large bags

b) valuables

c) Any other bulky item as there is no provision to store such items.

DA candidates will only be provided magnifying glasses. Other requirements such as wheel chair or hearing aid should be brought by the candidates.

Security at the center

Your identity proof will be checked at the center to make sure there is no impersonation. Await your turn in the line patiently. Only the candidates will be allowed in the secured area hence you can ask your parents or guardians to leave immediately after dropping you off at the center.

Once your identity has been verified, you will be led to your designated testing seat. You will then be called up to a biometric check-in station for fingerprinting. At an adjacent station, your photograph will be taken and ID checked again before being led back to you seat.

During the test, a proctor will patrol the room and all testing sessions will be audio and video recorded.

Test duration and pattern

Actual duration of the test: 2 hours 15 minutes. Candidates with scribe requirements will be given an extra hour.

There will be 15 minutes tutorial to familiarize you with the layout of the screen and functionality available during the test. Watch this tutorial carefully as it will tell you how to use a mouse, select, change or deselect your response, mark a question for review, move from one question from the other, highlight text within a passage and end the test.

No breaks will be given during the test so prepare yourself accordingly.

Scratch paper will be provided for rough work which will have to be returned to the administrator at the end of the test.

The test center administrators will not be able to answer any query regarding the questions in the test; thus do not waste your time asking them. Answer the questions to the best of your ability.

Facilities:

The centers will be equipped with the right computer hardware and software, generators and uninterrupted power supply (UPS), Internet connectivity and security. They will be air-conditioned and provide individual testing seats with partitions on either side as well as the front.The test center administrator will be present for assistance

A peek into the 15 minute tutorial:

Highlighting text:

This is a useful feature for RC. You will be able to highlight the text by dragging the mouse (after holding the left button) over the text. This shall be lost once you change the screen.

Mark a question for review:

Mark a question for review if you are unable to answer it the first time. The mark button will turn red once clicked. Click it again to ‘unmark’.

Reviewing screen:

You can go to the review screen to check which questions you have completed, not answered or marked for review. You can either double click on the questions to go back to them or click on the buttons “review all”, “review incomplete” or “review marked” on the bottom of the screen.

Time management:

The on-screen timer will be present on the top right corner of every screen. This will count down from the stipulated 2 hours 15 minutes, showing at any given moment, the time remaining to complete the test.

Results

The results to CAT 2009 will be announced on January 22, 2010 on catiim.in. You must retain the print out the score card.

Contingency Plan:

The testing centers are fully equipped to face situations such as power outage, natural calamities, medical outbreaks and terrorist attacks.

In case of power failure or a computer crash, all your responses will be safe in the server’s hard drive which is powered by an uninterrupted power supply. You will then be shifted to a new computer where you will be able to resume the test exactly where you left, without any loss of time on the test.

You will be contacted by Prometric for rescheduling the test in case the it cannot be taken on the scheduled day.

Following are some important links:

What to expect on the test day?

Request for resend: CAT admit card and/or application

www.catiim.in

Candidate Care

The Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) and phone support will be available from 9am – 6pm, Mondays to Saturdays, until the end of the CAT 2009 testing window (7 December 2009).

FAQs are available on the CAT website at www.catiim.in.

Phone: 1800 103 9293.

Webmail support is also available until candidates receive their score reports.

Queries received by webmail will be responded to within 48 hours.

Visit: http://www.prometric.com/IIM-CAT/contactus.